Magic is About Control? {Merlin}

[Elsa]

Ice and frost spread from where she stepped onto the field. It spiraled out around her, shooting like fingers , stretching the winter across the overly green area. Elsa took a breath, letting out another curl of frost, holding her fingers out. She needed a place to practice, particularly if she was going to be more careful with her aim at different buildings. And what better place to practice her magic than a giant field that she'd already partially frosted over?

So Elsa took steps, holding her hands out, spreading the ice and snow with each step. The frost curled the plants, and she felt like she was doing just enough to get them to curl down, not enough to quite kill all the grass, but at least start to trim. She took another breath. Now, now she just needed to try and get a larger area. Elsa extended her arms out, spinning slowly, trying to almost spiral across like some sort of sprinkler.

Unfortunately for her, there were actual sprinklers in the field. They were probably temporary, at least originally, but time had made them decidedly more permanent. Now Elsa's foot connected with one. She didn't trip, but the pain made her magic shoot out more powerfully than before. As her hand slipped, she noticed that someone else, a scrawny youngish man, was standing on the sidelines. "Watch out!" she yelled, not certain her warning would be enough: she was fully expecting the young man to end up frozen solid.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin had been doing the rounds, checking out what was cleared and what still needed working on (and seeing if anything had magically cleared itself the way some parts of town seem to have done), when he'd spotted something interesting.
There was a young woman with white-blonde hair apparently freezing parts of the old field, ice and snow blasting from her fingers with little to no visible effort on her part, and he found himself stopping to watch with interest. Was this a specific spell, he wondered, or some kind of power? He remembered that was one of the things he'd always loved about being here, all the different types of magic he encountered, the different skills and abilities everyone had.

He was about to call out to her and catch her attention when she seemed to slip, a plast of icy magic shooting his way with her surprise. His hand shot up instantly and he barked out a quick protection spell. The air in front of him shimmered, the magic blast smashing against it and exploding in a puff of snow, the frozen crystals falling harmlessly to the ground in front of him. He dusted off the few flakes that had fallen on his jacket and started to walk towards her, his steps cautious in case it hadn't been an accident.

"Hello," he called, lifting a hand in a friendly wave. These things tended to go better if you started on a welcoming foot.

[Elsa]

The ice had blasted off. In fact, it seemed to almost explode off the man in a blast of powder and snow. Elsa found herself gaping, not quite sure what she'd seen happen had actually happened. Had the snow just... had he just...

And he was waving and offering a friendly smile. "H-hello," Elsa managed, smoothing herself out. "Sorry about the chilly reception. I was..." she gestured around her, "well, I guess you could say I was trying to tend to the lawn?" she reached a hand up, smoothing back her already smoothed back hair. She looked back to the scrawny man.

Had she actually seen him do what she'd thought she'd seen him do? Or had she just missed? Elsa was half tempted to send another blast, see what happened, but she held for now. "I don't believe I caught your name?" she tried, taking a step cautiously toward him. Her unease made snow and frost follow her, forming an icy white-blue trail along the greens and browns behind her.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin chuckled, wanting to put her at her ease and also appreciating that she clearly meant him no harm. The puns certainly didn't hurt either.

"That's quite alright, I managed to take care of it," he shrugged, moving a little closer so they weren't calling across the field at each other. Besides, he was slightly fasinated by the crunch of ice underfoot as he moved, it was real and solid and kind of amazing.

"Oh, I'm Merlin," he introduced himself, cautiously holding out a hand for her to shake.

[Elsa]

"Yes, yes you did," Elsa agreed, looking at the outstretched hand. She'd already encountered a few people with abilities, so it really shouldn't disturb her. If anything this... Merlin could be a potential aid in her development. Perhaps, like Dracula, he could provide some more information about her abilities, and guides to how to better master it and, by extension, herself.

"Elsa," she said, noting the hand with a flick of the eyes, though she didn't take it. Not wanting to quite be rude: she'd already tossed snow at his face, she explained: "I'm rather cautious about contact, particularly when I'm not confident in my emotional state. You only have to freeze someone solid once to reconsider easy touch."

And she'd forgotten her gloves. She hadn't exactly been counting on anyone coming out to the field. But it seemed that every other time Elsa headed out for her own individual needs she ran into someone else. She looked around the field, noting it. "I was hoping to perhaps help with the groundskeeping a little," she offered, reiterating her earlier point. "As it seems the staff have been rather lax," she twirled her hand, again letting snow and ice spiral to freeze up a section of the lawn.

[Merlin Emrys]

"Of course," Merlin nodded easily, allowing his hand to drop. He couldn't help but be curious though, she seemed to have good control of her powers as she sent the snow spiraling towards the unruly grass, but her instinctive reaction to being startled and the slightly...experienced tone in her refusal to shake hands seemed to suggest that wasn't always the case. He didn't want to be rude and ask about it, but he filed it away in case he could bring it up in conversation at some point.

"The staff have been rather... lacking," Merlin admitted "But we seem to be making progress with everybody helping out. You do have a rather novel way of doing it..." he nodded with a slight smile, "is it specifically ice magic you can do? Were you born with it?" the questions tumbled out of him before he could stop himself, something about being back at this place had reignited his desire to learn about the different types of magic from all the different worlds. He couldn't recall if he'd ever met someone with such focused powers.

[Elsa]

"Understandable, since we're rebuilding," she said, before startling slightly at the questions. Elsa's eyes widened for a moment, but there was just something quite eager about it. This man, whoever he was, apparently knew something about her abilities. In point of fact, he readily called it 'magic" instead of simply marveling at it.

"My abilities are primarily focused on the cold and snow, yes," she agreed, nodding slightly. She extended a hand, waving it for a moment, creating a shimmering design of crystal that evaporated almost as she made it. "As near as we can tell, I was born with the ability. I certainly was able to do it from a very young age, at least as far as I can remember."

Elsa quirked a brow, lowering her hand slightly, but keeping a little bit of frost circling around it. "now, would you mind terribly telling me why you are so interested in my powers? You jumped to the magical explanation rather quickly, and clearly you have some abilities of your own," she nodded toward his hand as well, as if it glowed in counter to her own.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin looked a split second away from writing notes, but he'd been told previously that it was off-putting when he did that, so he resisted the urge to summon a notebook and pencil and write down what she was saying, instead just nodding along with an interested expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just dive right in there, I'm just very interested in magic you see," he admitted "I have magic as well, yes, there are a lot of people here who have magical abilities of varying types and I've always found it very fascinating, I was here before the school was abandoned you see, and I used to like to research how magic worked in all the different worlds people came from. Some people found it sort of boring," he admitted with a rueful smile "but where I come from, magic was banned back then, and suddenly I was surrounded by magic and I could study it to my heart's content, it was one of my favourite things about being here."

One of, the other being getting a chance to get closer to Arthur of course, but he'd already started rambling a little already, he didn't want to really confuse her by mentioning his husband.

[Elsa]

Elsa nodded a sort of forgiving nod at Merlin's apology, then listened carefully. What he said lined up fairly well with much of what she'd heard from other places: there were abilities like her,s though perhaps not precisely the same. There was a scholar's desire within him, and part of Elsa could certainly understand that passion, even if she were much more comfortable as an artist herself.

"I have to admit, I'm not quite used to meeting so many people with powers like mine," she confessed, pulling her arms around herself. "I was the only one back home, and... it got out of control," she frowned, looking away from Merlin and just feeling the memory for a few moments. She took a breath, closed her eyes, gave in for a second, then opened her eyes, looking back to Merlin.

"Have you met other people with natural magic? Say, magic tied to a time of year, or perhaps just to certain elements?" she rubbed her arm. "I arrived here mostly from following my sister, you see, but now that I"m here, I can't help but wonder if it's not to help me get an even better understanding of my powers. I'm much more comfortable with them than I used to be..." Though even now, talking to someone new made her uncomfortable, and she felt herself stiffening up, sliding back into Queen Elsa mode again.

[Merlin Emrys]

"That can often happen with magic that's part of yourself," Merlin nodded "I've met a lot of people who have lost control of their powers, it can be a terrible thing to experience, but I've yet to meet anybody who hasn't been able to get control eventually. I was lucky enough that, for me, failure usually just meant nothing happening, but I still had to learn how to tap into my powers and control them fully." his kept his tone gentle, reassuring, there was obviously pain in her, perhaps she had hurt someone with her powers or done some other kind of damage, it wouldn't be the first time he'd encountered somebody with that kind of trouble in their past.

"Not that I can think of right now..." Merlin said thoughtfully, searching his memory for the kind of magic his friends could do "But there have been a few gods with more specific powers. There are new people arriving all the time, perhaps you might get lucky and some kind of winter god may turn up... either way, there's definitely people here who'll be able to help you get an understanding of your powers and how you can best control them, even if they have abilities that aren't quite the same, you'd be surprised how many similarities crop up."

[Elsa]

He definitely knew far, far more about magic than Elsa did. She listened intently as he outlined his own struggles first, then discussed others. She caught the gentle, kind tone there as well, something in what he was doing and saying that made Elsa think very much of him as some kind of teacher. There was some of that same quiet confidence that she'd seen with Dracula a few nights ago, but without quite that undertone.

She found herself looking back to the ice, wondering for a few moments. "So I keep hearing," she said, sighing, "on most accounts. At least everyone here seems more impressed with what I can do rather than being frightened of me," she pursed her lips. "I wish I could say I always felt the same," she looked back to Merlin, studying him closely. "Do you perhaps teach magic here or something along those lines? I'm likely to be a student soon enough." She looked back to the school, some consideration showing again. Help. Support.

More and more Elsa had to wonder if their journey here wasn't more helpful for her than her sister and Kristoff. She'd have to ask sometime, see how things were going for them.

[Merlin Emrys]

"I do," Merlin agreed happily "That is, I intend to, when things are fully up and running again. I don't have many students yet but this place... let's just say I get the feeling that all the classes will start filling up sooner rather than later. I'd be delighted to have you as a student." not least because he wanted to learn more about her magic in return, as well as helping her feel more comfortable about it. He might have been lucky about the way his magic had worked out when it went wrong, but he still understood what it was like to be feared and persecuted just for having it, until Arthur had taken the throne revealing his magic had been basically a death sentence.

"This is a really good place to learn," he added, glancing over at the school buildings with fondness in his gaze "There's so many experiences to be found here, lifelong friends to be made, things to learn that you never even knew were possible... and learn new things about yourself as well. This school is where my husband and I fell in love."

[Elsa]

Classes, classes filled with students trying to learn magic. Elsa felt her heart skip at that. Classes filled with people who were either curious in learning more about themselves or people like Elsa herself. It sounded precisely like what she wanted, and she found herself fighting an eagerness much like her sister's as she nodded to Merlin's suggestion. 'I think I'd like that as well."

She actually found herself smiling now as she joined him in looking to the buildings. Elsa was already starting to feel some fondness, memories that were starting to crystallize forming in her mind, starting from her unusual arrival with Kristoff and moving through a certain dance. It almost felt like Merlin had picked up on that latter, with his question.

"Excuse me,' said Elsa, "for I'm likely to say something rude but.... people here, they don't seem to... mind?" she tilted her head slightly. "That is, assuming I heard correctly and you have a husband instead of a wife. Unless I'm mistaken and you're female, in which case you may want to shave the beard." She tried to hold back her eagerness and curiosity, erecting some of those walls. If that was allowed... if people could date those that shared their sex...

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin's expression was cautious, but with a hint of a smile in his eyes, there was something about the way she was enquiring that made him wonder if perhaps she was that way inclined, or knew somebody who was, and was just feeling out how much she could be herself. That or she disapproved and wondered if this place was really a hotbed of sin, but he didn't get that vibe from her.

"You did hear correctly, my husband, King Arthur of Camelot. Husband's more an.. affectation than anything else, we had a sort-of marriage ceremony here, although in Camelot he's married to Guinevere, she's a dear friend of ours who's very understanding, which is a useful thing to have, if the place you're from is... less understanding." it was a shame, but it had been difficult enough for Camelot to deal with magic now being allowed, they hadn't wanted to spring that on them as well. That said, half the castle knew about it.

"And most people here don't mind at all," he explained "Don't get me wrong, I can't speak for everyone, but everything's so strange and new here it seems a little easier for people who aren't accustomed to it to just... add those kinds of relationships onto the pile of things to get used to, it makes it a little easier for them to deal with."

[Elsa]

A king? A king who'd married for political standings, likely to another royal or a noble, but had this Merlin as a suitor out of love. It made perfect sense to Elsa, who had grown up in courts and at least gotten the intrigue secondhand. Elsa would probably be more knowledgeable about the finer details and the ideas. she nodded along her understanding of a less understanding place, holding her own statements until Merlin finished.

"So people here would have those sort of relationships," she repeated, more clarifying the statement than challenging it or anything. "And even someone who, say, is magical or has royal blood, could engage in them..." she looked out to the field, frowning. "Your husband," she looked back to Merlin, "he's not afraid of what you can do? And you're not concerned about his position as a king?"

Weird that she'd actually found someone who could answer the question on both sides of Elsa's worry. Maybe she'd get lucky and find someone with noble or royal blood who also happened to have abilities. If you'd asked Elsa about that before now, she may have laughed. But here, that was seeming less like just a possibility and more like a probability.